When you listen to people tell their testimonies we hear some absolutely amazing things God has done in their lives. We hear about Him showing up just in time, providing what is needed, comforting us in ways unexplainable, revealing truth in a world full of chaos, and many other incredible things. When we read the Bible we see story’s of Gods mighty hand, His gentle spirit, and His love for His people. We read stories about the Israelites coming out of Egypt and sounding like babies always telling Moses, “Why didn’t God just let us die in Egypt, at least there we were comfortable” in the chapter right after praising God for bringing them through the Red Sea and killing the Egyptians that were chasing them. Or in Matthew we hear the disciples impressed by how Jesus fed the 5,000 men with the 5 loaves and 2 fish, then literally in the next chapter freak out on how to feed the 4,000 men. We watch Gods power displayed in our own lives, in the lives of the people around us, and the lives of biblical characters; why don’t we remember it when we are in the midst of our own struggles.
This thought came up as I’m here in Nepal, sitting in the middle of the Himalayan Mountains, starring at the 8th largest Mountain in the world, worrying how I am going to raise the remaining $6,000 I need to stay on this race with no access to wifi. How is that even possible that I can be sitting here starring at the incredible creation of our Heavenly Father worrying about funds that I didn’t even have in the first place? It wasn’t like I just saved the previous $10,000 that got me here… no it was my Heavenly Father that placed it on people’s hearts to give! Why is it so easy for me to forget this incredibly work that He has done in my life, but so easy to remember the feeling of not having enough?
I wonder if this is why God waits to show up in those seasons until we are desperate for Him. I think back to those moments in my life when I have watch Him show up so powerfully and it comes when I am so desperate for Him to do something, anything in my life. This pattern is the same in the Bible as well. He takes the Israelites to the promise land after they have become slaves the the Egyptian for many years, He feeds the 5,000 after the people have been there 3 days, He heals the people who have tried all the doctors or have become the outcast of society, Jesus even eats with the people who are desperate for acceptance because they are the lowest of the low. I believe our God moves in desperate hearts because desperate hearts create great faith and expectations!
Clarification: Desperate situation and desperate hearts are 2 totally different things. When we look into the world we see such great, desperate situations in the world: hunger, war, trafficking, abuse, lack of basic human rights. Many times we ask why God let’s these things happen if He is a good loving father. You see the earth is the enemy’s playground where he comes to kill, steal, and destroy so if God just responded to those desperate situations the enemy has created then the enemy would control God. But our God is sovereign so He is only moved by the faith of His people.
So how do we create desperate hearts and not just let Gods power happen by chance? How do we create desperate hearts to remind us that our God who saved us from the things of our past is the same God who will save us from our future? How do we operate in this economy that is not based on the circumstances around us?
Prayer. I know this is the cheesy church answer, but while I was in India a man named William helped give me a different perspective on prayer. He told me that the more we pray about something the more we want it. Think back to a moment when you were really hungry… all you think about is food. You think about all the options, the taste, the smell, and how you will feel when you eat it. The more that you think about it, the more you talk about it, the hungrier you are. Other days when you are really busy though, you can skip a meal and not think about it and be perfectly fine. I think this is the same thing with prayer. The more that we think about it, the more we talk about it and discuss it with God, the more desperate we are for it. I think this is why as Christians we default to generic prayers because we are scared about become desperate for something and God not showing up or giving us what we want. We don’t want to put enough trust in God to become desperate before Him!!! *calling myself out as I’m writing this dang*
So here I am before you, forming a heart of desperate for God! God I pray for this $6000 in front of me and thank you that you already have the plan on how to fund it. I pray for you to grow my heart and my trust in you! I want to live a life so desperate for you that if you decide not to show up that I would fall flat on my face. I pray for a life out on the water, a life where I am so focused on you that I can walk on the stormy waters of this life, like peter, and people will see your power. God I just ask for my life to not be mine, but to be a life that you say “Well done good and faithful servant!” God help me not forget all of the amazing things that you have already done in my life and the lives of the people around me! God help me become desperate for you!!!
So this is my desperation prayer… what’s yours?
